With Ulbrich in limbo, linebacker Roquan Smith reopens recruitment

Roquan Smith’s recruitment won’t be ending today.

The four-star linebacker from Montezuma (Ga.) Macon County had announced his decision to attend UCLA over Georgia this morning on ESPN, but the news was soon followed by a stunner. FOX Sports reported that the Bruins’ defensive coordinator Jeff Ulbrich would take a job as the Atlanta Falcons’ linebackers coach.

A source indicated that Ulbrich and the Falcons were not a done deal, but the damage was done. Smith not only did not send in his letter of intent, but has now reopened his recruitment.

“He’s going to open things up with his recruiting,” Macon County coach Larry Harold told the Atlanta Journal-Constitution. “It’s pretty much UGA, Michigan, and Texas A&M – and UCLA is still in it. Coach Ulbrich told him that he hasn’t signed anything yet (with the Falcons), and that he hasn’t made a decision. So I think they are still in it as well. We’re going to sit back for a couple of days and see how this thing plays out.”

UCLA head coach Jim Mora is slated to talk to the media at 4:30 p.m. today.

Tight end Alize Jones flips from UCLA to Notre Dame

Tight end Alize Jones has officially decommitted from UCLA and picked Notre Dame, ending a relationship with the Bruins that had cooled for weeks.

The Las Vegas Bishop Gorman product is rated the second-best tight end in the country by both Scout.com and Rivals.com, with the former granting him five stars to the latter’s four. UCLA has spent its recent recruiting efforts focused on No. 1 tight end Chris Clark, who is regarded as a better blocker than Jones.

Clark — a 6-foot-5, 253-pounder from Avon (Conn.) Old Farms School — decommitted from Michigan in early December, but the Wolverines piqued his interest again by hiring head coach Jim Harbaugh.

UCLA schedules home-and-home with Michigan

A decade from now, the Bruins and Wolverines will meet.

UCLA and Michigan have scheduled a home-and-home series in 2022 and 2023, the first definite meeting between the two teams since their 2000 clash. The Bruins, then ranked No. 14, upset No. 3 Michigan, 23-20 at the Rose Bowl.

The series will debut in Ann Arbor on Sept. 10, 2022, UCLA’s first trip to Michigan since 1996. The following year, the Wolverines travel to Pasadena on Sept. 2.